When I first moved to Aspen in January 2000 at age 23, my goal wasn’t to find a rich husband, as my friends claimed. Instead, it was to explore a utopian “island in the sky” that several hikers I met in Nepal described to me in vivid detail; Even then, Colorado’s world-famous ski resort was legendary.
It was also turning into a budget-draining hotspot. Unemployed and broke, I spent my first nights in America’s most glamorous resort, sleeping on the floor of a soon-to-be-demolished hotel. I was startled when I paid £177 for a three-day cable car ticket (today that amount wouldn’t even buy you a day ticket at the weekend).
A few weeks later, after grabbing a job at a mountain restaurant—paid for in the form of a season lift ticket—and a room in co-worker housing, I brought a beer back to my new life at the (now closed) Hard Rock Café. a messy man whose razor-sharp sarcasm cannot hide his deep love for Aspen. After he left, the bartender revealed that my friend was the infamous gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson. Over the next two years, I chatted over margaritas with Thompson at some of his favorite bars, including Hotel Jerome’s J-Bar and the rundown Woody Creek Tavern, listening to him rant about the town’s chronic problems with capitalism and socialism. rising house prices.
More than two decades later, when news broke that Aspen Mountain, one of four mountains in the resort’s 5,600-acre ski area, was opening a new 150-acre ski area, it was time to see what had changed in this legendary area. Corner of Colorado.
Serviced by a new high-speed chairlift, Hero’s terrain is the first terrain added to the 11,212-ft-tall (3,415 m) Aspen Mountain since 1985, increasing the total ski acreage on its mostly developed terrain by 22 percent. The newer runs, mostly north-facing, are all above 3,048 m (10,000 ft) and feature poorly maintained double-diamond tree runs or hump areas, except for two blue cat runs that lead the tracks towards the lift.
Arriving on the first day that the farthest reaches of Hero’s were open, my two friends and I joined other locals exploring the densely forested area. Originally known as Pandora’s, the area was renamed Hero’s last summer to reflect the sudden death of James “Jim” Crown, whose family owned the Aspen Ski Company. Besides Jim’s trails, many of Hero’s trails are named in memory of local legends, such as ski patrollers Cory Brettman and Eric Kinsman and Aspen’s first female ski instructor Elli Iselin.
After traversing a few steep, tightly glassed runs, we stopped for apple pie at Bonnies, a rare, independently owned restaurant from the 1960s. It was full of locals. Among them were ski patrolman Steve “Chopper” Cohen; his emotions were still fresh after introducing the Cory Bob run to Cory’s widow and daughter the day before. For all Aspen’s extreme glamor and opulence, what makes it unique is its human connection to a culture of character that has long been home to freewheeling creators and eccentrics.
Aspen was transformed in the 1940s by Chicago industrialist Walter Paepcke and his wife, Elizabeth, from a former mining town into a center for ski-loving, wealthy, free-thinking art and culture lovers. Paepcke’s “Aspen Idea” survives today; In addition to claiming some of the best slopes in the world, Aspen’s 6,833 residents boast a world-acclaimed ballet, symphony opera, theater and art museum on their heated sidewalks.
Friends have long warned me that the town has changed “irreversibly” since my teenage seasons here, and sure enough, most of the places where I spent time with ski bums – Little Annie’s, Jimmy’s, Main St Bakery – are now gone, replaced by oyster bars. designer boutiques and cafes selling avocado toast and champagne.
On my first night back in town, eating truffle fries at Ajax Tavern, I found myself sitting next to a TikTok influencer rather than a sardonic journalist. Boomer the Landcloud, the canine influencer worth over $1 million, was the guest of honor at the $1,985-a-night Little Nell hotel along with Woody Harrelson and Cameron Diaz. I couldn’t help but wonder what my old acquaintance Thompson, whose ashes were tossed by a cannon at Woody Creek by Johnny Depp in 2005, would fare in a town where the average price of a family home and rents are now $14.8 million. They got caught up in $35,000 a month? Where is the claim that local homeowners number 106 billionaires (compared to 36 billionaires in London)?
Aspen’s evolution can be summed up in the development of a single feature, Cloud Nine. Cloud Nine, a wooden ski patrol hut built in the 1960s on Highlands Mountain, was immortalized in the 1970s when ski patrollers like Mac Smith (who is still with the team today) dazzled the crowds by leaping over the hut and pulling “blood carts.” (rescue sleds) with heroic flourish.
The hut was transformed in 1999 by Austrian-born chef Andreas Fischbacher into Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro, which serves raclette, fondue and schnapps, with occasional tabletop dancing and popping champagne. As the venue underwent a $1.2 million (£944,630) refurbishment in 2016, champagne spraying was expected, although not required. Today, lunch slots at 2pm require a minimum pre-paid booking fee of $250 (£197) per person – although the $750 (£590) Bespoke Package is preferred – Veuve Clicquot with a case of $140 (£110) per bottle Available for pre-order as standard. spraying.
Sharing the chairlift with former ski patroller-turned-art installer Tim Mutrie, we fondly remembered the less curated Cloud Nine celebrations. “You have to wonder if there is a better use for this money than soaking the rafters of an old patrol box,” mused Mutrie. “But hey, we should have our Aspen party in the past, who are we to stop others from partying too?”
Fundamentals
Travel to Aspen with United Airlines (united.com), which flies direct to Denver from London Heathrow, with connecting flights to Aspen from £1,110 return. A one-week stay for two in a double room at The Little Nell (thelittlenell.com), Aspen’s only ski-in/ski-out hotel, costs $10,610.39 ($8,353), including five-day lift passes for both guests and the partner airport. £). transfers. For more information about Aspen, visit aspensnowmass.com.